Hey, voices from the bench community. Jennifer Ferguson from I'm Here with a quick shout out to all programming, M7 users and those thinking about joining the club. On July 1st, we're launching the IV block module that is powered by intelligent automation that optimizes toolpath and saves you serious time. I'm talking up to 45% faster milling, and you want to know what the best part is? You can try it for free for 90 days. No pressure, no commitment. Do you want in? All you have to do is shoot us a message on Instagram at or email me at Jennifer. And we'll get you set up. Welcome to voices from the bench, a dental laboratory podcast. Send us an email at Info Voices from the bench and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Greetings and welcome to episode 379 of voices from the bench. My name is Elvis. My name is grandma. What's happenin? Grandma? How are you? Oh, man. If I could told you how hard my week was, it would be too long to explain. But I'm really good. Yeah. Everybody's good. What about you? Busy week too. It's hot and humid here. It's terrible. It's. What does hot mean to you? We're like 95 and probably about a 80% humidity right now. You're 95. I'm 91. How is that even possible? I don't know. Here we are talking about the weather again. Your weather report for the week. All I know is I walk out to my car and my glasses fog. That's how bad it is. It's terrible. I'm so sorry about your luck, but I'm at 90 when my. When I run, I feel like I'm going to die. Yeah, I'm there too. Yep. So we usually don't mention the ads that play on episodes. But our good friends at I have just started playing one that I think is a pretty big deal and worth mentioning. We talked to Tobias at IDs. The episode was out a couple of weeks ago, but it's now live and I don't know, Barb, are you doing these things yet? But 45% faster milling Emacs on a I have a PM seven. That just seems huge to me. Do you know how many units we could do a day? 45% faster? Like that's ridiculously awesome. Seems like a lot. I mean, I don't I'm in. Yeah, it goes live July 1st, they said. And I mean, you could hear it in the ad, but if you want to get on board for 90 days to try it for free, send them a message on Instagram or an email. There's links on the episode, show notes. It just to me, it's like when something gets better, it's like it's 5% better, it's 10%, but 45 just seems like a lot. That's half the time. It's nuts to me. I don't know if you have a PM seven. Why wouldn't you if you don't have a pen seven go get a PM seven so you can do it. I'm going to check the episodes, show notes and show them to my partner, and he's going to be all in. So yeah, bruh. Like, why would you not? So this week we're going to go back to the wonderful country of Germany, where we set up in the exo cad booth for four full days and recorded as many as we could during the IDs show that happened last March. When we say we get to talk to people from all over the world. I think this conversation might be one of the most unique. As we chat with two guys that are killing it in Colombia. I'm not even going to try to pronounce their full names, so let's just say Juan Luis from New Static come onto the podcast to talk about how 70 years ago, their company basically got sick of shipping everything into their country. So they decided to make their own teeth in acrylics. Crazy. But now they lead in dental anesthesia, which we learn all about and I have no idea. Printing resins and they are taken the US by storm. Then we've got past podcasts and our good friend Steve Campbell. He swings by to update us on what's happening with Nexis Dental Lab in the UK. By the way, Steve, is that idea speaking for Exxon? And he's so brilliant. He's talking about their art. Art. What is art? Well, it's an amazing way for labs to treatment plan cases with video of the design restoration in the patient's mouth. It's pretty freaking cool. Steve talks about it being a game changer. I think I talked about it being a game changer in the last ad. Yeah, you were pretty impressed. Yeah, we were pretty stoked about it. So it's going to be really great. Yeah. And then we meet the chief Strategy officer or the CSO of VH, Doctor Nicholas Road. We have been hearing a lot of people say great things about VHF mils. I've never used one personally, but we've had plenty of people on this podcast say they're amazing. Oh yeah. For sure. And we've never really had a chance to learn more about them. So Doctor Rohde stops by to talk about getting into dental by pure chance. Moving over to VHF, running the American Division all the way from Germany. And then he tells us about the mils and how and why they have their own software to run the cam on their machines. Crazy. So join us as we chat with Juan Luis, Steve and Doctor Rhodes. Voices from the bench. The interview. So awesome. This is exciting. Denise Goodfriend came by. She's been texting me for days. Thousands of miles away. We meet even though we were all, like, met in the States a million times. A thousand thousands. At the exo CAD booth, IDs 2025. And she brings on who do we have? Juan David Jaramillo and. Luis Diego. Nice. You know that we'll never be able to pronounce that. So thank you very much. And the company? Can you say New Aesthetic USA? Yeah. Just gentlemen welcome. Welcome one and Luis. That's the easy one. And Luis. Luis and Luis. Luis. Perfect. Ron, how are you? Fine. Thank you. On you. I'm doing real well. Tell me about new settings. Thank you for having us here. Absolutely. Tell us about your company. Okay. Thank you so much. We are a 70 year old company. 70? Yeah. We are located in Colombia. We export our products to 6570 countries around the world. 65. Our main products are acrylic teeth. Acrylic resins. And dental anesthesia. Mhm. We have also discussed 3D printing resins. We have all kinds of products for the for the dental business. And we produced everything. So you work with Dennis and labs. Yes. Both markets. Okay. Pharma and medical devices. Okay. So how did it all start? 70 years ago? Obviously, you weren't the one that started it. No no, no. There was there were some some, uh, people in the lab industry and they were, uh, technicians. And they started to find that there was a need in Colombia, in South America for products made locally, because at that time, 70 years ago, they were all only bought abroad, like in the US or Europe. So a long time to get. So they started to have a small manufacturing facility at the beginning. And for a long time the main product has been, uh, as one say, the acrylic teeth for dentures, for dentures. And this is still an important business in the company. And then later on it started, we started to expand with different, different kind of products and also to represent products from other companies to sell them in Colombia and some other countries in Latin America. So it's kind of like a no wax. Yeah. A little bit of other products at the same price. So what are you doing here? We have we have a booth. Yeah, we have a booth. We have a booth. We show all the products we manufacture, and we. This is a good place to do 3 or 4 different things. First sale, of course. Yeah. So we have a group who are selling to people that come from different, uh, distributors and from all around the world. This is the most important show. And then also we bring people that go and check for new products. Start looking. What's. What's what? What are the trends? What's next? What do we are going next? And then also people that start talk to companies to buy things to bring them to Colombia. We have also four offices in the US and Mexico. So we also look for to represent new products for these areas. Wow. And it's very easy for us to be here because visiting our we have around 600 customers around the world and most of them are here. Yeah. And we have to go everywhere. 65 countries is impossible. Then it's a good place to be, to go to everybody. All in Germany. Yeah, yeah, if you can find them and if they can find you. Because this is quite large. We're having here for like it 50 years more. We have been 25. Chose. Maybe this is our. Yeah. Wow. So you're every two years. Yeah. So what's the what's the lab scene in Colombia like? Is there a lot of labs or a lot, really? Yeah, I think there's a lot of high end labs and really good technicians. Yeah, really good technicians. Yeah. It. The world is going to the 3D printing world. Yeah. And Colombia is not far. Now we just we started like 4 or 5 years ago. And every day more and more and more and more labs are are learning digitally. Yeah. Yeah. Digital. We are like missionaries there. We are teaching people how to use this technology because it's not just buying a 3D printing or a card system, you have to just buy it. Yeah. Yeah. So are you selling the 3D printers and the CAD cam or just materials? Just the materials, the resins, things like that. Okay. And we we we were partners of a long time ago. We used to have a lab. Yeah. A big love. It was the most modern in Colombia. So you owned a lab at one point? We got. You got out of that? Yeah. We are manufacturers. We produce big volumes. Yeah. Dealing with every dentist, with every lab is not for us. We are not designed for that. Yeah. We could learn, but. Oh, my God, it's a long. It's not easy. Then we decided to close that business. We sold it and we are just manufacturing it now. Are you seeing your tooth sales go down as your resin sales go up? Yes, sir. Yeah, it's it's slowly, slowly coming down. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. That's going to happen. Yeah. We are not. We are tourists. They don't. They are not going to disappear. Yeah. I don't think they. I don't think they ever will. But we are seeing a very very, very slow decline. Yeah. But there must be. Maybe there's not. But is there a lot of single person labs in Colombia where they're just like, all I do is just changing because the, the, the legal staff, the law, the minister of Health, they are checking. Oh, yeah. It's changing. It's changing. What is that? What does that mean? Like what? What's changed? They are asking for regulation. We have to meet all the regulations. They have to meet their regulations. And it's. It's not easy to start when you are not. So now they are consolidating. And they are. The single person love with a low budget is very difficult to survive, so they have to integrate or consolidate. They're coming together. They're coming together. Is there more regulation in Colombia than there is in the US? Uh, no. No, because there's not much in the US. They're probably. Yeah, they're probably just coming to the party a little bit. Yeah. The countries follow what the FDA says at the end. Yeah, but, uh, but it's not easy. It's not. It's not easy for them to to meet all the requirements. Yeah. Because they have to change facilities or equipment or a lot of stuff that they have to start. If they want to survive in this new world, they have to. Yeah, start doing different things. Do you have a lot of us clients? We have, uh, yes, we have a lot of us clients. I think Denise is. Yeah. I was going to say Denise is in charge of our. Yeah. You have the whole us. Yes. Excellent. You know, us is a big market for us. I mean, we have, um, our largest, uh, business is in, uh, the Americas. Latin America, of course. Yeah. Uh, we have a big business. Mexico. We have all South America except Brazil. Brazil is in on its own. They have their big companies and all inside the country. But the rest of the countries, we do it. But we also do some business in Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia. So that's when Juan said, we have 65 countries where we sell. Do you have people that are selling in all of those countries? Yes. They find you both both ways. I mean, some some of them, we visit them or we establish contact here in the, in this exhibition. Oh, yeah. Or some other exhibition. So we go to every every year we go to ten, 12 shows around the world, around the, around the world. Sir. That's a fun job. And I loved your video of your company. Yeah, that probably gets a lot of views and gets you out. It's really beautiful. Yeah. What are some of your big products? I mean, you mentioned teeth. You mentioned resins and dental anesthesia. Dental anesthesia. Anesthesia. Yeah. Yes. Wow. That's a big time medical, right? Obviously. Huge business. Why is what makes your special. I know nothing about it. Right? I see those vials. They stick them in the needle. That's all I know. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Those are the dental anesthesia is used in cartridges. Yeah. Vial is for for for medical uses. Yeah. Yeah. Or from countries? Ah. Southeast Asia. They use vials, but cartridges are they're the most common in the dental world. And those are the little tubes they put inside of the needle. Yeah. That one? Yeah. That one, that one. That's your biggest seller. Wow. It's a huge business. Many, many customers are looking for that. Really? Yeah. Is there a lot of company that makes them or not? No. Not many. That's the key. I have no idea. Yeah. If. Meeting all the requirements, the regulatory issues for every country because there is FDA. There is the country. But every country has a special requirement that you have to meet. 65 regulatory bodies. Yes. Yeah, yeah. But anesthesia we are in 35. Okay. With the other products we are in 6570 countries. Anesthesia is not that easy. But we will be. Yeah. We are not yet in the US. For example, with the anesthesia. You do. We will be in the. We are not. We are not. No no no no no no no. We're going to be able to get that regulation a couple years. Is it hard takes that long. Oh yeah. Because you have to follow a lot of a lot of procedures and you have to feel a lot of, uh, uh, requirements and many things. So and that's something that we are working in the factory and complying with all these regulations. But in a couple, 2 or 3 years, we will be for sure. Change anything in your product. You probably have to get to the Or. It's just like the process, the procedure, the reformation. Yeah yeah yeah. Wow. And to make some studies also some clinical clinical studies you have to prove that the product is. So you've got a whole team working on that. Yeah. That's that's in that area where more than 150 to 100 people just in the in. Wow. And just the anesthesia. The anesthesia. Yeah. Because the the quality control, uh, department is huge. You have to. Work 24 hours a day. How do you even make that stuff? You just buy different products and mix it and put it in a cartridge. Yes. Yeah. It looks simple, but it's great. So I don't know. I'm not trying to dumb it down. It's just I don't I don't know how. That's that's it, that's it. Yeah. You're right. They're, they're they're raw material. Uh, the, the basic, uh, product. And where does the raw material come from? Other companies. From other companies. The main product is the main raw material is water. Water? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Wow. 2 or 3 powders more and mix them and that's it. But then you have to apply. But a couple drops to this, a couple drops to that. And the thing of water. Yeah. Five years later you can sell it. But then the whole lab and the whole the whole facilities and the whole machines, they have to be pure, completely pure water and, uh, sterile, sterile environment. So it's quite big. It's not just tap water. It goes in with your blood. Then it's. Well, yeah, you have to be. I mean, I would want that very regulated as they objected to me. Heck, yeah. Yeah it is. That's a lot harder than just selling denture teeth. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because you don't have to hit regulation with that kind of stuff, do you know? Yeah. That too with denture teeth. Yeah. Of course, we have to meet all the medical case for USA and see also see requirements. We have a lot. And you know what the medical devices are taking that way. The pharma way the all the regulatory issues the medical devices are going there. Then we have to meet all the requirements every year. Wow. That's good. It's it's good for us because we we are like accustomed to that. It's part of our. Yeah. Day by day. Then it's not difficult. Just takes time, money. But if you meet all the requirements, it opens door. It opens doors. Then it's good for you. So it kind of weeds out the non competitors. Oh yeah. That's right. Yeah. I can't start a company tomorrow. That's for sure. Don't do it. Yeah I mess up the water. So do you meet a lot of dentists here that are, that are buying your anesthesia, or is it mostly larger companies? I didn't I was talking to the niece. I didn't hear the I don't know that. Do we meet here? Dentists that buy directly. Not really. I mean it's larger, larger companies normally not direct. Yeah. Normally what we find here is we we meet with, uh, dealers. Yeah. Oh, so you don't sell direct? No, we don't sell. Okay. So, so so we meet here. Here in this exhibition. We meet dealers from different countries, and they are big importers to their own countries. They they comply with all their requirements within their countries. And they, they start buying and then they sell to the labs, clinics and everything. Yeah. Wow. This is fascinating. Yeah. You guys are killing it. Seriously? I had no idea that so much went into the. Yeah. Yeah. Injectable numbing. Yeah. Neither. We we opened a new business. He's, uh. Another one. Yes. Slow down, guys. Yeah, he's out for the rest of us. You're partners? We are together. Yeah. Okay. Makes sense. Nail acrylic for your nail. That makes sense. Now I know my dad is in the business. Yeah. That's brilliant. Acrylic. Acrylic teeth. That makes sense. Acrylic is similar to the nail. Acrylic? That makes sense to me a lot. It's not the same. We thought it was the same. But it's not the same. Not the same. You have to. Yeah. Twitch tweets a little bit about all. All the production and everything. But then we have we have all the equipment and we needed to explore and to of course check all the all different combinations. And now we are working or we're doing it. We are producing the raw material for companies that uh. So did you just see the connection and say, we need to get into this market? Yes. Is it the materials? Is it the same powder? That's what I mean. Yeah. No, it's not the same. Similar. Similar. Yeah, yeah, but the same reactors? The same. The same. But a million procedures. Yes, a million more. Oh, yes. Yes. We just sell raw material to the to guys who color every. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So you sell it raw and somebody else mixes it? Yeah. Repackage it. The packaging is small packaging. So you don't do 1000, 2000, 3000 colors. Yeah, you don't do that. Seriously? That would be a pain. I would be like. No, we'll just do this out. That's awesome. Interesting. So how's that going? You know a lot. Yeah. It's growing. It started only three, four years ago. So it's new. A new line. But we're growing. Is growing as much regulation? Not as much as the other one. Probably because it doesn't go in a body. Well, on a body or like on a nail. Yeah. But it's awesome to see your nails. Yeah. No. Not mine. Oh, look, look. How come you're not supporting your own work? You have to put the long days back there. Yeah. Denise. Looks like I love it. Well, thank you, Denise. I'm super happy. She was talking to me a couple days ago. Thank you guys both for coming on. Yes, sir. Yes. Yes. W s t e I. I see. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. That's great. Thank you for having us here. Yeah. This is a fascinating pleasure meeting you. Yeah. Thank you for waiting. Uh, we didn't want to hold you up. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Our booth. Yeah. Please. I will, thank you. If I can find it. Okay. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Close to your mouth. Hey, you know the microphone, not Barb. Ah. There we go. When you talk us in this area, it's. It's just a little louder than one. Yeah, I was gonna say it's a bit louder in one. Okay. I can turn you down if I need to. Oh, don't worry, I've been turned down many, many times in my life. I wish this would be nothing new. So, past podcast guest. I can't even tell you how long it's been. Three years. It's been a long time. 3 or 4 years? I have no idea anymore. I it feels like 3 or 4 years, but then it also feels like ten years. You know, so much has happened, so much changing, so fast. So Steve Campbell, Nexus dental lab. Yep, yep. You're one of three speakers here for Exo CAD. I am, I am, which is amazing to me that they only have three, but you're doing it like 14 times a day. Every time I look up, you're up and then you're gone and then you're back. I'm like, there he is again. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? The difference is they've got they've got emo and they've got Neelu, and they're really good. So they get value out of them the first time. I'm not that good. So to get the value out of me, they've got to make me do it over and over again. We recommend you come back and see Steve six times. I understand what he's talking about. Exactly. You wouldn't get it the first time. Come back the second time. And we do cupcakes in the afternoon. So catch him after the cupcake session and they're on a sugar high. Yeah, right. Coffee, sugar. Everyone's like, I love it. How do you get on the lecture circuit of x0 cad like, all day for this whole convention? Do you know what that is? You must be pretty incredible. No. Do you know. That's a great question. I think that was just blind luck, to be honest with you. You know, like we were doing a few small talks with our surgeons, you know, just people we knew locally. And then one of the surgeons said, oh, actually, I need you to come and do an event with me. It was the British dental show. Yeah. And my first thought was, oh, no, that would be horrible. But then I thought, okay, you know, you talk about, like, being on stage. Yeah. Just that fear if you've never done it. I was just like, oh, no, no need to be afraid of that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The worst, you know. How did you get over? Repetition. Maybe. Repetition. Psychology. Yeah. Medicine. Well, all of them. Sincerely. Because I feel the same way. I think everybody does. I mean, genuinely, when you care about something and it's something, you know, it matters to you. You don't want to get it wrong. You should be nervous. Yeah. I think the worst thing that could ever happen is if you just flowed into it and didn't really care. I think it's going to drop. It doesn't matter enough. You know what I mean? I think that's where you've got to be very, very careful there. So what are you talking about here? I mean, I know you're literally probably, I don't know, 20ft from us. I haven't heard a single thing. Yeah. We can. It's too tough. Yeah. Yeah. But to be honest, I think that, well, you guys are lucky. You've got these amazing headphones so you can actually cancel me out. I do. I feel sorry for the XO team. They've got to hear me three times a day. I have a I have a Steve button here that suits you. So what are you talking about? So what we're talking about is we're talking about an art. So they've got this whole new way of bringing together orthodontics restorative. And it's about how you then use those tools to collaborate with the surgery and then inform the patient better. So essentially, we can now show patients using AI and using the latest x CAD tools how they were going to look with the normal restorative dentistry. But also if they went for a short course of aligners, Liners, how they'd look and how they wouldn't have to have any reduction to their teeth. So let's let me see if I understand both of those. Yeah. In one suite. So you get an iOS scan as a lab, you get an iOS scan, you get a picture, a face scan, all of that. Just just a picture. Just a picture. A normal picture. Just a normal picture from from the patient. And just a just a short video using just a any smartphone of them talking. So you want to see their lips. You want to see their teeth. You want them to just look at the camera in a nice little portrait. You'll usually see when they do these things like, hi, this is super awkward. You know, that's exactly what I think it's like. But normally I think what they've done is some of my surgeons, I know they're a bit sneaky. They don't tell them they're recording yet. They kind of say, I'm going to be recording in a bit, you know, how are you driving? And then they start talking about that and then they're more relaxed. Exactly. So they're not all tensed up. That's exactly it. Because when you know someone's looking at you, then you're going to be a bit. Especially people that know they have poor dentition. They. Exactly. They talk. They want to hide out. They're trying to. Yeah. The hand goes over the mouth and and that's actually the key you're trying to say to the patient, you don't put them there. And you say to them, look. Imagine you've got the smile you always wanted and just. We're just going to talk like that. So you want them to be expressive because we need to show them just how amazing that is. And when the generative video does that overlay, it really does. You can see people's reaction. You know, they are literally like, wow, yeah. There's nothing worse than trying to get a smile out of someone that's got like a poor denture, because you have to do this all the time. They're like, they barely move their lips. I'm like, yeah, I know you can do better than that. Yeah. And it's emotional to write like you can read it. And I bet you higher case acceptance. That's exactly what it comes down to. And the key is I'm not. We're not here about selling dentistry. If anything is a lab, once they've gone through some of the alignment technology, they might not actually need the veneers they went for. They might get to that stage, be like, actually, I'm happy, but I'm totally cool with that, you know, because we've got so many patients that come to us through trauma. They've fallen off a bike or something happens. You know, we all know as a lab you get plenty of cases anyway. So if somebody doesn't need treatment and they're only 21, I'd rather they didn't have any reluctance. We're not going to not eat. You know what I mean? Exactly. So labs got the scans, got the picture, and Zo, can you overlay it? Yep. So you put their their iOS scan within their picture? Yep. In the video. So this is the really clever bit. It used to be a real pain to get a 3D object to align nicely with a 2D picture, because you're lining up the scan teeth and the picture of the teeth, right? I mean, they just don't look the same. They don't look the same. You've got that. You've got that kind of we call it goldfish bowl effect. You know, cameras. You've got all these sort of different effects going on. But the eye completely aligns it. It just morphs them into exactly the right apps to go down the corridor wasn't literally a button one. It's one click, one click. I does that for you. So that because that used to be a real tricky affair, trying to get it lined up, and then you can just start your normal smile design so you can then show that smile design back into a 2D picture, which is which is cool. But then at the end of the whole process, as well as a very in-depth report about the tooth reduction they'd need and how many stages it would be if they did go for aligners versus not going for them. It also then has one button which is uploading great video. You just point to the video that's taken off the smartphone. It's uploaded to the to the cloud, to the AI system. It then takes all of your work from x0 and puts it in line. You don't do anything. I mean, you have a coffee. I mean, we go through, we have a lot of coffee. But but you know, I think the key for me is, you know, art's doing all of this, but what it's really doing for me, you know, with my different hats on working for the College of General Dentistry and the DLA is it's helping us with a recruitment crisis and also a manpower crisis, because we can do so much more because we are really efficient. Now. It's it's a number of clicks. So it's making it super quick, super easy. And you get it early obviously. Right. We're really lucky already talking about it. And it's new. Yeah. Exactly. What does that look like for you. They just call you and say, hey, we got a new software. You want to check it out? That was exactly what happened. So, you know, we got a little call and Neela was like, look, we've got something we think you'd really like, but it's experimental just now, so we're going to hop on a team's call, and I'm just going to show you it. She showed me it. I literally was like, this is the best thing I've ever seen. I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it. And then we didn't talk for about a month and I thought maybe I was too keen. Maybe. Maybe I've just talked myself out of being in that group. Let's keep it out of here. Yeah. You excited? That was okay, Steve. Okay. Calm down. He can't handle it. But they were working so hard behind the scenes because there is a lot of complexity going on here. You know, the key to it is instead of, like one STL, so, you know, you got your control scanning and it's essentially just one file. Yeah. What this does is it auto segments out all of the teeth. So they become individual teeth units and gum units. So that's a lot of work because now you've got all these different geometries that can be moved and work around each other. So does that help you in design? Massively. Big time. Massively. Because now you can literally pull each element out one at a time. You can just look at them from one to move away another one. So it allows you to do, especially when you look at the pre and post alignment phases. It's just completely different to anything we've had before, but effortless. I mean, I am not the best CAD designer out there. Some of my team now are just so, so slick. But even I can pick it up because it's doing so much of the work for me. So you find it easier. I find people to learn which is going to help training new people. And that's the key. Yeah, I know when I showed tools like this to school leavers, I can definitely entice those into a laboratory now. Yeah. You know, I mean, look, I, we talked about this before when I went into the lab, it was all monomer and plaster and stuff everywhere, and I was hooked anyway. You know, there's something wrong with me. But. But it's not really appealing to the younger generation. It's hard. These tools are. Yeah. They're like Amy today. Yeah. Did you. She was blown away and talked about it just sitting right across from you. And I need help. I need a little help here. I need a little help here about the rapid ness of how good she's gotten so quickly is. It blows to the software and her brain and her skills. No, I mean, look, I'm really lucky, and I. And I mean this hand on heart. When I came to this industry, I came in as an old school apprentice. So what mattered first was your hand skills, you know, and that's fine. That's what I was good at. And now what we're actually looking for are people who are incredibly clever and switched on and can adapt to technology very fast. So actually our intake is nothing like it was before. So a whole lot longer before, you know. And it was great. You know, we we've done a great job. But the time it took to do it was incredible. You know, it's now it's getting so much faster and so much better. And we know with the CAD designs we're doing they're great. But also the flip sides, all these different new materials that are coming out. We're seeing how these new solutions are being put together and we're going to see very soon I think some amazing dentures. Like, you know, we're already seeing the first waves of some of these come out, but it's only for a few years. It's just going to get better and better. But think of the alternative to this video thing diagnostic wax ups. Yeah. We were talking earlier off off mic. We had a whole conversation about it. But in this lab does thousands of them. But what does that do for a patient. This is what your teeth look like in my hand. Yeah. I can only imagine as a patient, other than being a little freaked out that you see yourself on video, but your new teeth are in a video moving with your. I can't imagine the the ability of that, I guess, or the acceptance of cases like sign me up today. I want to look like that. Yeah, the trying on hair telling you I remember those that the engagement here turned a little. I get it, I get it, I know, but that's I mean, you know, you try it on and you're like, I want that. Yeah. But look it's that's that's going right here. I think the thing for this was that really took the patient nothing. And it took us very little work to give them both propositions. And then it goes to them. You're actually your value as a lab technician to your clinicians has just gone up massive. And that's what we need. You're empowering them. You can't do it just making crowns. No no no. You got to be a value and you're going to sell that to these 100%. And that's exactly where we're seeing this evolve into. Because now we're actually doing that for them. We're making it so much easier for them to help them convince the patient that actually those aligners are worth it, because in the past, it was a conversation, a bit like having a diagnostic in your hand. Would you want that? Yeah. You know, here's here's some wonky teeth. Here's some three models crooked, less crooked, straight. Be like, this is you. And you're like, it's not. Yeah. And they're like, well, no, I don't really want to go through that. Yeah. But you show them this and then say, I'm. By the way, if we don't do this, we're going to have to reduce a millimeter of your enamel. Yeah, that's a different story because with that comes sensitivity cleaning issues with crossover. So we're just empowering them to do a better job of informing the patient. Informed consent. It's great. Are you charging for this? No. Because I'm a terrible business person. Because it seems like you're still putting in work. You're still designing. We are. Oh, people. There's 100% people are going to charge for this. But we've got to remember at the moment we're in a pre-release beta phase, so it's not even out yet. It's not even out yet. It's about to come out. You know, this is about to be fully released. So obviously that's why everyone's now seeing our series going through. This is going to be a full release. So that I think, is when people will be like, well, actually there is a value to this. So that will be something that the curtains say actually. Yep. Great, I love that. And most people, you know, we know some of the, the lab technicians that I've met. They're very good business people as well, you know. So they know when they see it they understand the value of it. And I think that's important. Technicians really need to understand their value. Oh, yeah. That is not going away. It's just going up. So that's the key for us. These tools will help us in that journey. And I see the clinician referring to their friends, the labs that have this type of software. Because they're like, hey, you got to go to this lab. This is what I've been doing, and I'm selling the heck out of this. You're right, Bob. I mean, you're like, somebody opens up a video and shows it to the to their mate when they're at the goal. And, you know, they do. Oh, they always do, Dennis. Yeah. The first time I saw this was someone showing it to me in Chicago on their phone, like, look at this video. I was like, oh my God, that's cool. I mean, that stuff goes, yeah, and that's it. And then if you're that lab. Yeah, yeah, you're a sweet spot. Yeah. You are. Yeah, yeah, you absolutely are. So what else is happening at your lab? Not xkcd related. Anything exciting? Uh, yeah. We, uh, we moved premises twice, so we've now moved to an old chapel, which is amazing. Just an amazing space. So we've got a full open auditorium upstairs. We're slowly renovating all of that. And you had to run all your water lines and airlines and everything through this old chapel. Yeah. So they're all going on. So the main floor you come in is very much like a high tech digital design suite area. Downstairs in the basement, there's all the 3D printers and all of the other sort of the engine room, if you like, I like it. And then the the upstairs is where we're eventually going to have a lot more of our finishing detailing because we have this amazing light comes in from all around through the stained glass. Wow. Yeah, it's it's really, really cool that that was just so lucky. Luck. Yeah, it was luck. I mean, we when we moved to the last place, we did such a good job of renovating it that when we were leaving, the landlord said, this is amazing. We've never had a tenant. Like he said, I've got a place for you. And I was like, okay, I'd love to have a look. And when he took me there, I was like, this is what we need. It was so, so much faith. It is. I underestimated how much work it would be. Yeah, but I'm loving it because now all our team are in one place, all together, and in the past we're all in little up and down stairs, little corner units. Yeah, we're now more of a team. Love that. You know. And as you said, I can sit and I can see Amy. I can see him. We can all chat to each other. Yeah, it's very open and level and I think that's healthy for for what I want to do. I want everyone to be very easily able to just color and communicate with each other. Are you done moving your lab? That sounds like a big. Yeah. My wife told me I'm not allowed to move labs ever again. I bet you've been a nightmare. How? Well, you know me. How well you know me. My God. But Lindsey said you promised me. Last time. Was the last time? Yeah. Uh. And I'm the one sleeping with. Yeah. So you have not been fun. So this time is the last time. So you have to play this for her? Yeah, she's got it. She's got it and can keep it. Evidence. No, I'm not that. I'm not that silly. I'm not going to give my wife evidence. What else is going on? Anything. I mean, I'd like to acknowledge. Oh, yeah. On Amy's behalf, but on. But you. How you encourage your employees to go to school and give them the time they need to get better and smarter. And because uni's what? For years? Yeah, sometimes plus two plus three. If you if you're going to do the Masters as a leader. Um, yeah. You're so behind that. Yeah. I'm terrible at taking a compliment, but I'll accept that one, because, you know, what I am proud of is when we look at Hugo Salsa, who's in Portugal now, living his best life. You know, sunny Portugal. Lisbon. Yeah, but he came to us. We supported him through his master's program. He's now doing his PhD. But the value he brings back to the team in understanding material science, what's really going on has helped us to be a bit more innovative. So that is our model for all of our teams. Like, you can go on the course if you want to do a masters. We'll take you through the Masters. Wow. You know, and I think that's that's important. It's not just about our hands anymore. And then it is our brain and the mentors. Yeah, like everybody in your labs. A mentor to to someone else. Exactly. We have like, so synergistic. I love it and we hope that's. We hope that works out really well. You know, it's hard for me to read. You know, when I walk in the room, how I'm perceived. Some days. Good. Some days, maybe not so good. We heard you're super high energy all day, every day today or not. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Was the wages late going in there? Not a popular guy. Oh, I got paid today. Hey. Yeah. He's okay. He's okay. He's okay. Yeah. I'm paying for this building. Yeah. It's payday. So we normally go for a few drinks, so we're all good for that. Yeah. Okay. We liked you today. That's awesome. Yeah. No, but thank you very much. It's, uh. Look, it. It sounds like such a twee thing to say, but if you don't invest in your team fully, you're not going to reap the benefits they need to grow. You know, I want them to be twice as good as I ever was. And that's only going to happen if I give them all the experiences that we didn't get, because we're of a different generation. I'm sorry to say that in a in a big bubble, but, you know, I think we we all came in in a very analog workflow. Well, you've already also inspired her to want a lecture. I don't know if you know that. I don't know that on implants that she needs to specialize, that she wants to specialize on implants. We told her and she wants to get up there. Well, you know what that would be? That'd be incredible. Because what I. What I'm taking from that is she saw me and thought, wow, I can do that. I can do better than that. Oh, I could really do better than that. I loved it. She was awesome. Yeah. No, thanks for being so kind with her. Because she was nervous. She's never done anything like this before. And I said, honestly, Amy, you'll be in the best hands. Don't worry. They'll take care of it. Yeah, exactly, I said that. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for the compliment. Back. Yeah. So how often do you come to ideas? You must. We try and come every two years. So every time it's on, we always try and come here. So the big ones for us are here in Chicago. That's it. Because these are really where the big announcements are. If anything's happening, it's happening at one of those two places. So when you say we do you bring like a group. Yeah. Yeah. So we always try and bring some of our team with us. So Mark's here and Amy's here this time. A number of years ago we took when we were a lot smaller. We took everyone. Wow. And that's not easy to do when we now get to around about 28 of us it becomes a lot harder. Yeah, yeah. But it's also someone's got to do the work. So we what we try and do now is we try and alternate it out between people. So everyone gets an opportunity to do something or go somewhere. So you send some to Chicago, you send some here. Yeah. The idea is always going to be now we're going to continue to be okay. You know, we've done this and you talk about Amy and we've got many, many skilled people in the lab who we're going to say, well, look, you go, you know, you experience it. And if you want to engage and talk, yeah, go for it. Yeah. So, you know, they've got to have that opportunity as well because they'll have their own ideas. And that's where you get the value they come back with. You know, I kind of thought this might be a good idea. We can always have a look, but the difference is, is you're going to listen to those people 100%. There's a lot of people that come to these shows or Chicago. They go back to their lab and the owner or whatever didn't go. Yeah, didn't care. And it just goes, yeah, it's fine. But it's important that you're you're communicative with them on these opportunities. Yeah. Yeah. Look it's a it's a missed opportunity for us if we don't do this. So 100%. Yeah. Everything's worth checking out. Yeah, exactly. I, I've always had the, the attitude like you've just got to give everything a go. Like, you know, everything is open. Don't worry. Love it. Give it a try. That's how you get in trouble. See, that's why my wife put that sticker on. And in my defense, I was left by myself. So she literally stuck that in the back of my phone before I left, I picked my phone up. I was like, what's this? She was like, you know, you know, that's great. I like your wife. Yeah. She's cool. She's definitely the better part of this. This couple, that's for sure. Awesome, man. Always a pleasure to see you guys catch up with you. Thank you. Everything. Yep. Keep doing what you're doing, man. Keep producing these stellar technicians. Yeah, well, hey, let a few of them come to the States for sure. We need them. Yeah, well, we all need them. That's the problem. And I've got to thank you guys. Not only do you do this the best content that just keeps going out. I don't know how you find time. I just don't know how you find. I don't either, but thank you very much. It's been a pleasure. Absolutely, Steve. See you. See you. So you don't have a name tag? I'm not even going to try. What's your name? Nicholas road. Nicholas road. Road. Just like the road. So easy for you. Well, it's Americanized, so in German it would be older. Okay, that's a little bit more difficult road. Yeah. Just go with the road. How about Nicholas? Even better. Even better. So you're from VHF? I am, so you are VHF, right? Yeah. Pretty much. No, no. It's way more behind me than that. So here we are. IDW's 2025, the wonderful XO CAD booth. Nicholas Rhodes. Yes. Comes by. Tell us your story. How do you get into milling machines? Let's start with dental. How do you get into dental? Yeah. So I have a business background, and I got into dental. By pure chance. Yeah. In 2001, I think. Really? Wow. Quite a long time ago. Wow. And you know how it is. It's like a big family. And you get into there and you stick there. How did you know that got you into it? Um, it was really by pure chance. And then I built my network, and now it's a big family for me. I'm always so happy to be here. Yeah. Be in Chicago or be here, I guess. And, I mean, okay, that was, um, with a company called Haricot Rotary Instruments. Oh. Rotary manual? Yeah. Based out of Berlin. Yeah. Exactly. Were you sales or were. I mean, it was, um, marketing sales position. Okay. Yeah. Put it like this. Yeah. And then I got fell in love. I fell in love. I, uh, I went back to university, um, pursued my PhD, but then afterwards, right back into dental. And where are you from, if I might ask? Originally from Berlin. Okay. Berlin, Germany. All right. Yeah. I have worked in the US for six, seven years. That was the story that we heard. So you moved to the US for. It was actually during my studies that I went to the University of Maryland for six months. Wow. How was that experience? Yeah. How did you choose that school? Maryland. It was, um, also, again, by coincidence, it was a research project at our university. International research project. Um, that makes sense. The professor there asked me to do a joint. What were you researching? Organizational practices. So organizational practices, like. Yeah. Organizational theory, um, routines and companies. Oh, it's very interesting because you see everywhere. Routines. Yeah. In a dental lab and a dental practice in a bank and a consulting company. Dental labs are known for unorganized practice, but it's still it's not the written practice, but it's what actually done and what people repeatedly do. Yeah. And that's sometimes in contrast to the SOPs. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's it's a fun, fun area. So it's my research there. Yeah. But yeah, I didn't want to stay in in academia. I wanted to get back to to the real world. Yeah. Um, and it was the the closest thing to get back into dental. Uh, I loved it. And actually, I stayed in the US because, uh, I met my wife over there. Nice. Um, so I stayed in the in the Maryland area and worked in for an implant company, and that was my first. Step into digital dentistry. Implant company. Which one was? It was the the US headquarters of a Taiwanese Swiss company called biodata. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Awesome. So you sold implants and did those for a while? The digital part of the implant business? Yeah. And that was also my first, uh, touchpoint with VHF, because by then the back then was a reseller of VHF machines. Oh, okay. So I, uh, I sold them and installed them. Uh, that was also the time when I really was at the forefront. There was a fun, fun time. I was in labs. I was in, in dental offices. I was part of, uh, implant surgeries that the the scanning with the trios, um, installed milling machines. We had a country all over the world. So that was really a country that was early adoption. Yeah. Yeah, that was like the company was actually at the forefront of the, the whole digital workflow and, um, yeah, it was it was fun, fun time. We also had a milling center. So that was also my. Yeah, that was also my responsibility, uh, to, to run the milling center. And mills were in this milling. So we had, I think 6 or 7, 6 or 7. Yeah. And to be gigantic. Right. Oh, yeah. Exactly. Back in the day, they were gigantic. I learned really, you know, how to, uh, take restorations out of a puck and, uh, smoothen them and. Yeah, um, how what the whole process is, but I, I had the, the or I was in the lucky position to do also really the hands on which she became a technician. No, no, no. Far away from that. Far away from that. You got to at least at least I could try it. Yeah. You know, the people were much better than I was. But I always like to be really hands on. Yeah. So what does VH stand for? It's actually the first letters of the founders names, which is Hannah Fleischmann, and they are the founders of the of the company VHF, which has been the, the the currency. Org came in a few weeks month after Foundation. Um, and he's running now the show ever since. So did it start as a milling company? Is that the first thing you did? It actually started as a software company in a garage. Yeah. So a garage. Garage? Yeah. I love those stories. I love that story. So what, these three guys met? Yeah. And they they were students. Um, and they developed software for, um, milling machine controllers. Controller boards. Right. In dental or non dental? Dental came way. Yeah. But they were much, much more like car parts and um industrial all kinds of milling machines. Yeah. Yeah. And then they started building the, the controller itself and then kind of build from the inside to the outside. Uh, started building milling machines, flatbed portal, milling machines for industrial applications. Yeah. Um, cutting out boards, sign making, all that kind of stuff. And do you know how they discovered dental? Yes, that that was again by pure chance. Oh, my God, there's so much. Yeah. Um, it was a company from the dental industry. Approached them about what, like 16 or 17 years ago and said, yeah, we want that kind of machine. Can you build that for us? And no one had a clue about dental. They all knew that they have teeth in their mouth and you need to see dentist vision, not expertise whatsoever. So they just designed and manufactured a machine according to the specifications of the company, that of the company. And, uh, it was quite successful. And then at some point there was no exclusivity or exclusivity, I think was only in the first year or so. And, um, yeah, then they put together a desktop milling machine for milling zirconia, and they went here to IDs. I think the company was, uh, they might have been ten employees in the beginning. They exhibited here at IDs. And. Yeah, people couldn't believe that you can mill zirconia on a table top or desktop milling. They blew everybody's mind. So they were the first. Mill, to my knowledge. Yeah. Back in the day, we had those big three M lava. Yeah, the lava desktop. This is the smaller ones. Like smaller ones? Yeah. Yeah. And that was kind of the you hear during that? No, no. I'd love to get feedback on, like, what the vibe was at this show when one booth had a milling machine and you're like, oh, I bet that was. Yeah, I bet it was crazy. Just saw a picture. I was we asked about that somebody else today. Do they have any pictures of the early days, like the very first mill or the first piece of equipment for that sort of technology? Yeah. What was that mill call? The first one. Ooh. Do they have names? Good question. I don't know that the machine had a name, but I don't know what it is. Yeah. Is it still working? Probably somewhere. Somewhere? Yeah. Some labs still using it. So back to you. So then how did then you were in Maryland. You were doing that. You stayed here, and then you moved back? Exactly. At some point, uh, from I think you said you had met this company at that company. Exactly. So I was still living in the US, but I went to trainings, uh, with VF because I was really at the forefront of selling the machines, fixing them. I was fixing them. I got the the service level one training and um, yeah. And then at some point my wife and I said, well, maybe we should consider also moving to Germany. Just give it a try. We had our kids were born in the US, but we kind of wanted to. Your wife wanted to go to Germany, post them to the German culture? Yeah. Your wife wanted to go. Well, we it was. Yeah. We both said it would be a good thing to try. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we just went and I got back in touch with the company, and, uh, they put you on working for VHF. Ever since started working in the service department. It was, of course, they liked the idea of having someone there who comes in with the customer perspective. Yeah. Um, then I manage the product department. Then I, uh, was the CEO for the US operation for three and a half years. So you came back? I did that actually. Remotely. Oh. All right. That was good. I was traveling a lot during that time. I was in the US for a week. Per month? Yeah. Wow. You know, in a country from a zoom call. Yeah. That's crazy. And it was basically from, like, a a service standpoint. Um, the company was founded in the US before I joined the company, uh, VHF, but, uh, it was just. Designed as a service standpoint. There were two experts sitting there in the office. And then we changed. Once I started, um, working in the US again, we changed things around. We started having, uh, inventory there. We started hiring stuff. Staff. Um, yeah. So that we could have seen the company grow and grow and grow and grow from. Yeah, quite a lot. What do you think of that? Like, how do you keep evolving the company, the mills. Like what is. Tell me what that looks like from your seat. How do you keep getting better and better and better and building better mills? Well, it's always striving for the next step, so to say. I don't know if you've seen our claim. Um. Creating perfection, I love it. Of course, there's never perfect. The state of perfection is not really achievable, but you can always strive for that. And that's what really drives us every day. To always be ahead of the pack, so to say. Yeah. I mean, your mills are known as being some of the top of the line in the industry. I mean, people speak highly of the mills. How many mills are out right now? Different levels or. Yeah, we have we have three categories now. Okay. Uh, with all together three, six, eight machines. Wow. Um, yeah. So there's basically. For every flavor there's a the machine. So some specialize in different doing different things. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not just wet and dry, right? It's more than that. I'm sure you're milling metal. Yes. Implants? We do? Yeah. Some machines do. Some others don't. Uh, some are more for, let's say, a bigger lab with bigger throughput. Some are more for an entry level. Or if a lab already has some, uh, number of machines, but they want to add some or replace some what? Maybe some, um, mill for production peaks. Yeah. Then they have, like a low investment, um, and just can add that production capacity. Well, you talked about Germany and America. Yeah. What about the rest of the world? You guys take it over South America? I mean, are you everywhere? They're everywhere. Correct. Globally, yeah. We have, uh, resellers in many, many countries. Um, in all. All regions. Yeah. So Asia is. Strong. We have a subsidiary also in Asia. Latin America is booming right now. Um, yeah. So they're all manufactured in one place. All manufactured in one place. Made in Germany? Yeah, that has got it. I mean, just the. How many do you make a day? How? It's gotta take a while to make a mill, right? Yeah. It's really. It depends on the mill. So that some mills, uh, that are put put together much, much faster. Sure. Probably within a day or two with all the parts that need to be reassembled. And then there's a very complex mill that can wet and dry milling, and that has the disc changer, and that makes it all complex. And then it takes about four times as much to put it like an assembly line. Or is it like one person puts it all together? And are you talking about like the facility where they manufacture? I'm kind of curious. Have you. I'm sure you've been there. Cause that's kind of where you started, right? Yeah. No, it is. I mean, it's very professionalized now. Every step is really, um, pre organized. It has to be perfect. So. But then in the end, one person puts together one machine so that there's that connection, um, with the machine. And they can really put, uh, their, their whole focus into that one machine. And they are proud once the machine is done, they're, they're proud that they put it together. Yeah. Yeah. Ship it Shine it. Yeah. It's going to be tested. Uh, it's also very important to have the quality. Everyone gets tested. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. How long is the testing? Well, um, like a couple crowns or something or. Yeah. They first do test specimens, but then they also always run. They actually do some zirconia. Yeah, because you gotta have it do with the actual product before it goes out. I didn't realize you tested every single one. Oh, yeah. That's pretty impressive. Yeah. And then you have to clean it. That's. That's true as well. No one wants to buy a brand new mill with some old zirconia in it. That's hilarious. How do you help? Labs. So they buy the mill, and they you have customer service. So if they have any issues. Do you go in through the computer to help them fix it? Or do you have a whole team that travels to. Not saying they break down. I'm saying customer service. If they have an issue, how does that work? It's a machine. In the end, it happens. Um, and if it is because the machine was not maintained properly or cleaned properly. Yes. We clean ours quite frequently. Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah. So we sell through resellers globally, and the reseller is typically doing the first, uh, line of support. Uh, but then when they cannot answer anymore, they can cannot repair the machine. They send it to, to VHF either to, um, one of our subsidiaries or to to the headquarters. Do you have one in America? Yeah we do. We don't have to ship them to Germany. No, because that would be crazy. Insane? Yeah. No, it's it's in New York and nice. Yeah. We are very proud because the the team is so great there that we never had to send a machine back to the headquarters in Germany so they could fix everything stateside. That's a good sign of what they're doing it right. Yeah. So for forgive my ignorance, but are you launching something at this meeting? Yeah, we actually, we are showcasing here our new digital world, new digital solutions. Um, one part of the milling system, you have the hardware, and then you have the software and our dental cam software. Wow. Uh, came out with a complete, revamped, uh, user interface. The whole workflow. It's basically rebuilt from from the bottom again. So this is software. They're back into software? Yeah. Yeah. That's. Yeah. You've developed this software. What's new about the the update. Is it faster since you said you were so surprised that we developed the software? Well, that's something that's where you started one of our secret sauce that we not only manufactured the mill, but we also, uh, make our own software. And we also, um, make our own tools, the milling tools. So that's not common, right? It is not. Yeah. A lot of milling. Use other paths. What do they call milling strategies? Strategies. That's what I'm thinking about. And you do your own. We do our own. We are still absolutely open. So if someone wants to use their own Cam software, that's fine. But we are convinced that, you know, if you want to have a plug and play solution and you don't want to tinker with the strategies, just rely on what our team of specialists has optimized. And with those three elements the software, the machine and the tools, you can really optimize the complete system. Awesome. So what does the new software do? Make it faster. Make it. Yeah, I don't know. Better. It's faster, up to 20%. It is much more convenient. It has a nice clean, um, user interface. It has a lot of automation. Uh, for example, you don't have a long list of available packs in your library, but you it recognizes the object and then automatically recommends the packs that would fit you. Put in a half used puck, it will read it and tell you what puck that is. No, no, it's all in the library, the Pakistan, the library. But it knows okay, it's that three unit bridge and in zirconia and with that height. And then it would recommend okay puck puck number three, three and five would have space for space. Yeah. And 20%. That's huge for labs. Yeah. Yeah. It's all about the time. Yeah. I'm sure that that makes a significant difference to the user, to the end user. And then what also saves time is, um, auto nesting and auto pinning. So that's all part of the cat cat software. No cam that's all. Cam. I got it wrong. The cam get the SDL from the Cat software and then you put it in the blank. Yeah. Typically then it's just in the middle. And now you have a button where it nicely organizes the the objects in the right place and then also puts the sprues in the right place. Wow. Because sometimes those automated ones will write on a margin. You're like, you can't do that. That's never fun either. Yeah. And and we mentioned earlier milling metal. Those got to be beefier machines right. So we have universal machines that do all that. So they they do it all. Um, and only our E-Series will not support milling with, uh, metals, but all others do. So you must have a huge amount of tools also. So each tool has to be different for each procedure. Or metal or zirconia, different tools for different materials. But then for indications is mostly the. And does it read is does the software read like this tool is done. It's done this many crowns. It's time to change it and let the yeah it will track the lifetime and then recommends a change. Or since we have an automatic tool changer it will just take does everything for you the the next tool that is in line. So in one machine you can put in zirconia mill your crown, take out that zirconia, put in iMacs, mill that iMacs, take that out and put it in abutment and mill that abutment and not have to really do anything to the machine. Just like swap out that easy. It's it's even better. You have a machine. You have a machine with a blank changer. You load all the jobs wet, dry, whatever it is. And I'm talking now about the R5, like our premium top of the line machine, you load, put all the jobs in the cam software. Um, you click again a button optimize and it will sort that you first have all the wet or the um, yeah, the wet jobs and then the dry jobs wet before so that you don't know it's. It doesn't matter with what you begin, but we want to avoid that. You always have the cleaning automatic cleaning cycle in between just to save time. The thing cleans itself. It does clean itself, clean and dry itself. That is my mill, I want that. Do you guys do any clinical? Do you work with doctors also or is it all lab based? Yeah, no. They are also doctors that are investing now into milling technology. A lot of them. Yeah. They're all there. Yeah. There's a fair amount getting into it. So they would give it the smaller I'm assuming. Yeah. Yeah. Mostly like what you said the different levels. Yeah. Maybe. What I hear is also that more and more technicians are being hired than in dental offices. And they have their own lab, um, and the expertise of a technician in the office, in a doctor's office. He's got a five disc change here in that a lot as well. Yeah. What are you doing? That much dentistry for one person? I was like, wow, it's fascinating. Do you do the different multi disc changers? Yeah, I imagine you do. What's the biggest one. How many does the whole. That's the R5 with ten discs and then typically ten discs gets you overnight. Load that at at night and come in in the morning. If you're a larger lab or any lab, as a matter of fact, and everything's ready to roll. And it doesn't matter if this is zirconia, this is Emax. This is a bar. This is an abutment. This is a. That's pretty fascinating. Doesn't matter at all. Years ago, I won't even say the brand. We had a wet dry mill, and it was a pain to go between wet and dry. Yeah, and it's like everyone's like, don't do it. It's. But this thing sounds like. No. We advised also in the, in the past days we advised against it to now to let it run. That's over. Those times are over. Good to hear it. Yeah. Good to hear it. And it's good that you use probably customer feedback. And they were just like this is really difficult to do. So then you guys went back in and said, let's figure this out. We need to raise the game. Yeah, that's really what we are striving for, to to listen to the customer, to see where the point pain points are and, and to fix them. And that's also with the dental cam software. It's a lot of customer feedback. Yeah. Just to make things easier because everyone is busy. We know that a lot of labs cannot find good people anymore, so they hire people from the street. Then it needs to be really easy. You cannot explain that a Cam software for a long time to a person, and then the person leaves half a year later and then you start again. It needs to be intuitive. Exactly. That's a great point. And this thing will nest it for you. Correct. Do all the paths. I mean, that's half the that's half the work. Um, yeah. It almost seems like a plug and play. Load and leave and go home. Well, thank you so much. That's some fascinating stuff. Thank you so much for having me. That was really fun. Yeah, it was cool. Yeah. Thank you. And, uh, VHF, great VHF. And good luck to your company. Enjoy the rest of this crazy meeting. Thank you. Heard a lot of really great things about your company. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. A big thanks to Juan Luis, Steve and Doctor Rhodes. We absolutely love the new aesthetic story of starting as a lab, needing material, and becoming such a leader in manufacturing materials. Technicians will always find a way. Guys, always, always, great to talk to Steve, which we love. I love his accent and I just love his personality. We can't imagine where he will run into him next. We've already seen him, I think in us. Yeah. My York. Yeah. In Germany? Yep. I'm sure we will see him in the next country. Hopefully the US, maybe Chicago or Dubai. Yeah. We have a plug to Dubai. I'm still trying. I know, and it was really great to get to know Doctor Rhodes and more from the people that are making such highly praised Mills. Keep up the good work, guys. What great conversations. All right, everybody, that's all we got for you. And of course we'll talk to you. And you know, there's more to come from Edsall. So much more. Have a good one. See ya. I'm not part of the smart crew. Yes you are. You're the funny crew. The views and opinions expressed on the voices from the Bench podcast are those of the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the host or voices from the bench, LLC.